What are the advantages of the Ruger Security Six over a GP100, specifically a current GP100? I know they're a bit more svelte, but other than being a little more handy, are there any other advantages? Reliability? Durability? etc
What are the advantages of the Ruger Security Six over a GP100, specifically a current GP100? I know they're a bit more svelte, but other than being a little more handy, are there any other advantages? Reliability? Durability? etc
I would suggest they are not "better" by any measurable or quantifiable degree, but many of use simply like them better. Visually, feel wise.Originally Posted by SwampDweller
Stainless may be "better" to most people, its simply really unattractive to me. Doesnt have to make sense, I just dont like it. My reaction to the first GP100 I saw was similar. No interest. Whatever its attributes and qualities are are lost on me. I guess that reduces competition on the existing supply for everyone else....
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
I picked mine up for a song... I think I paid $300 or $350. Unless you can find one for a good price I don't think there is a functional reason to get one. I did figure out that the -Six Series fits my GP100 JMCK holster perfectly.
Im somewhat reconsidering my previous post. If you like the K frame S&Ws rather than the L frames, then yes, there probably is a reason to get one over the GP100. They are a little lighter to carry. Still a subjective matter, though its enough reason for me. I like the K frame Smiths over the Ls, despite whatever perceived difference in longevity with heavier loads. With the Security Six guns, I dont believes there is any real practical difference in longevity. I dont shoot a lot of magnums, so its not that big of an issue to me. It may be to others of course.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
The Six series' size gives it K frame handiness. Its design imparts high strength and simplicity. Years ago used ones were very cheap. I owned a bunch new and used, and they all performed to the same high level. Once my dealer ended up with a Security Six having mutilated serial numbers. The dealer handed me a sledge hammer and the revolver and asked me to destroy it. Placing the gun on a concrete slab, I beat hell out of it and finally bent the frame. I was in my 40's and 6"2" and weighed 220.
Some say that the Six series were somewhat expensive to manufacture. I suspect that law enforcement's changing to pistols eroded the Six's sales base. S&W introduced the L frame, and in response Ruger brought out their GP100.
I'll have to check the stats, but I actually don't think that there's really a huge difference in weight between a GP100 and Security Six, as the Security Six, while more svelte appearing, had a full backstrap frame, where the GP100 just has a peg.
I believe that the GP100 was easier to manufacture than the -Six, and the heavier barrel, topstrap and forcing cone/forcing cone material surrounding was thicker. Ruger's intention was that the GP was designed for unlimited .357 magnum use, while the -Sixs were more analogous to the Smith & Wesson 19 family.
However, the 1984 Border Patrol's 10K .357 magnum round test I think significantly belies the thought that the -Sixs were significantly weaker. I suspect that the biggest pluses for Ruger for the GP100 were the ease in manufacture, heavy barrel standardization (with full- and -half lug variations) and a somewhat simplified crane/cylinder assembly. Additionally, the visually brawnier GP100 provided a better/more compelling visual comparison for advertising/marketing against the Smith & Wesson 586/686 L Frame models. However, I'm open to the possibility of a GP performing more durably with a heavy diet of hot 125 gr .357 cartridges than the -Six guns. My personal preference has been to use my Security Six almost exclusively with 125 gr .38 Special +P cartridges, and use my GP100 for 158 gr .357 magnums cartridges.
Additionally, the GP100, SP101 and Super Redhawk shared the same basic design action architecture, again simplifying the manufacturing process, and the action with a seperate trigger return spring was more amenable to action tuning than the single-spring multi-purpose Redhawk's spring setup.
It's interesting to comparatively shoot both a Security Six and a GP100. I find that the Security Six's action is much more triggerpull tunable that the GP100's (although you can get some nice results with a GP100 action tuning, just not as good as on a -Six in my experience with a sample size of 2). The Security Six is quicker to get on target from draw, while the GP provides faster splits with repeated shots.
At the end of the day, I think it's less a question of which is better as opposed to which best fits a given user's preferences and intentions.
Best, Jon
Last edited by JonInWA; 11-28-2023 at 06:12 PM.
Sponsored by Check-Mate Industries and BH Spring Solutions
Certified Glock Armorer
2lbs 4oz
2lbs 7oz
Not much of a weight difference.
Yep. Security Six: Full backstrap grip frame; GP100: Peg grip mount, heavier barrel, thicker top strap.
And I suspect that if your Security Six is a later model with one of the heavy barrels, the weight disparity is even further diminished between it and a GP100.
Best, Jon
Sponsored by Check-Mate Industries and BH Spring Solutions
Certified Glock Armorer
A Speed Six or Service Six will usually nicely fit a K-Frame leather holster. A Security Six, with its thicker top strap, simply has more bulk, so is likely to be a better fit in a GP100/Python/L-Frame leather holster. I remember, from the early-/mid-Eighties, Tom Ferguson, a gun writer who was a San Antonio PD firearms instruction officer, recommending Python-sized holster to fit the Security Six.
When the GP100 appeared, ~1986, and before holsters became generally available, it became known to use a holster made to fit the Colt Python. I did not buy my first GP100 until the early Nineties, and do not remember when I bought my first GP100-specific holster for it.
Notably, Safariland marketed one 070 holster for both the GP100 and the Python. There was a separate SKU for the L-Frame. That being a closely-fitting Level III retention holster, the fit had to be right, at least in several key places. When my GP100 had to go to the firearms lab, after a shooting incident, my Stainless Python served as my interim duty handgun. My PD-issued 070 was clearly marked as fitting both the python and the GP100, so, I did not need to re-do my duty rig.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
Back in 2012, story goes someone at Ruger "found" a bunch of new, unopened Security-Six grips/stocks in an "attic" area (as I recall).
They offered them online for $10 ea. until they were gone. Picked up 4 (didn't want to be greedy ;-) ). Sure look nice.
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